Polish finance chief Morawiecki to be new prime minister

Alik Keplicz

Poland's Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki waits for the start of a government meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo sent a tweet early Tuesday that seems to read like a farewell, amid rumors in Warsaw that she might be replaced by Morawiecki. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2015 file photo the leader of the ruling Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, right, raises his hand during one of the votes passing a new law on the constitutional court, as Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, left, looks on, in the parliament in Warsaw, Poland. Prime Minister Szydlo sent a tweet early Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017 that seems to read like a farewell, amid rumors in Warsaw that she might be replaced by Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz, file)

Czarek Sokolowski

Poland's President Andrzej Duda gives a ceremonial speech to the National Assembly, the joint houses of parliament, in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017, to open a year of observances that will lead up to the 100th anniversary of Poland's regaining of independence, a historic fact that the current government holds very important for national identity. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Alik Keplicz

Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, left, shakes hands with Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, right, prior to a government meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. Szydlo sent a tweet early Tuesday that seems to read like a farewell, amid rumors in Warsaw that she might be replaced by Morawiecki. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

Alik Keplicz

FILE - In this Dec. 21, 2016 file photo Jaroslaw Kaczynski, chairman of the populist ruling Law and Justice party, speaks during a press conference with Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, left, in Warsaw, Poland. Szydlo sent a tweet early Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017 that seems to read like a farewell, amid rumors in Warsaw that she might be replaced by Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz, file)

Czarek Sokolowski

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the powerful leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party gives Prime Minister Beata Szydlo a kiss and a bunch of flowers after her government survived a vote in which the opposition was seeking to oust it, at the parliament building in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Czarek Sokolowski

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the powerful leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party congratulates Prime Minister Beata Szydlo after her government survived a vote in which the opposition was seeking to oust it, at the parliament buildingin Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Czarek Sokolowski

Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, left, rejoices after she and her government survived opposition's vote of no-confidence in the parliament in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. Szydlo, however, is at the center of speculation that she and some of her ministers will be replaced in a government reshuffle in the near future. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Czarek Sokolowski

Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo rejoices after she and her government survived opposition's vote of no-confidence in the parliament in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. Szydlo, however, is at the centre of speculation that she and some of her ministers will be replaced in a government reshuffle in the near future. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Czarek Sokolowski

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the powerful leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party and Prime Minister Beata Szydlo wave after her government survived a vote in which the opposition was seeking to oust it, at the parliament buildingin Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's prime minister resigned Thursday and will be replaced by Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, as the conservative ruling party took the risk of trading a popular leader for a former international banker who seemed better-suited to representing Poland to critics outside the country.

The reshuffling came after weeks of speculation that Prime Minister Beata Szydlo might be replaced, even though her government is popular with many Poles and the economy is booming.

Szydlo resigned during a meeting of the ruling Law and Justice party in Warsaw, party spokeswoman Beata Mazurek said. The party leadership wants Szydlo to serve in another senior government position, Mazurek said without elaborating.

Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Dziedziczak suggested Szydlo will be the deputy prime minister, a post Morawiecki held in her government.

Government critics interpreted the leadership change as primarily an attempt to divert attention from a vote scheduled for Friday on laws that would give the ruling party significant power over Poland's judicial system.

Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski is widely seen as the real power behind the government, and it's not clear if Morawiecki will seek to set an independent course or if he would also largely follow the direction Kaczynski sets, as Szydlo did.

Some analysts think Kaczynski wanted Szydlo to step down because she was unable to manage government infighting. They said Kaczynski respects Morawiecki, a party newcomer, but does not see him as a threat.

The state news agency PAP reported that lawmakers will vote Tuesday on Morawiecki and his Cabinet. Approval is expected given the ruling party's majority in parliament.

While Szydlo's 2-year-old government is riding high in opinion polls, Morawiecki has overseen its economic development. Poland now enjoys record low unemployment of around 7 percent, growing wages and growth of over 4 percent per year.

Still, the country's international image has suffered dramatically since Law and Justice assumed power, mostly over new laws that have eroded the independence of the judicial branch.

The government also drew criticism from abroad following an Independence Day march last month that was organized by far-right groups. It drew an estimated 60,000 participants, including some who carried banners and signs with white supremacist messages.

Some government members praised the march. The interior minister called it a "beautiful sight," although Poland's president denounced it unequivocally.

Some see Morawiecki, a former international banker who speaks foreign languages, as better placed than Szydlo to defend the country in dealings with European partners who believe democracy is eroding in Poland.

He is expected to reassure financial markets, given that he is regarded as business friendly, especially by the standards of the others in the Law and Justice party.

Szydlo, a coal miner's daughter and the mother of a priest, has wide support among conservatives. Many party supporters said in recent days they didn't want her to resign.

She thanked her supporters in a tweet Thursday night.

"These two years were an amazing time for me, and serving Poland and Poles an honor," she wrote.

Earlier Thursday, Szydlo and her Cabinet easily survived a no-confidence vote in parliament called by the opposition centrist Civic Platform party, which accuses the government of harming Poland with laws that it says are anti-democratic.

Two bills are set for a final vote in parliament Friday that would give the government greater control of the judicial system. The bills have been criticized by the European Union and others as an anti-democratic threat to Poland's rule of law.

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